Thursday, December 12, 2013

Sure
you would recognize her easily ? Are top leaders are human too…..

The
World is talking about it….

Certainly an event that attracted most leaders from
all over the World… a funeral at that… decades ago, a State funeral was total
mourning… National flag would be at half mast – there would be no entertainment
…. TV and radio would play only sombre music ~ remember the sarangi vadan in
DD…. Now the
Q is : What do President Obama and a bunch of teenagers have in common?

The death of Nelson
Mandela is mourned World over…. World leaders bowed and prayed Wednesday before
the flag-draped casket containing the body of Nelson Mandela, having a final
look at the anti-apartheid icon in the amphitheater where he was sworn in 19
years earlier as South Africa's first black president. Leaders like Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe, South African President Jacob Zuma and others passed by
the casket in two lines.

The
Nelson Mandela eulogized to the world by President Barack Obama as "a
giant of history" and the "last great liberator of the 20th
century" seemed a different person from the one the United States held at
arm's length, to put it diplomatically, for much of his life and career. Obama
paid rich tributes in his speech. Tributes were also made by General Thanduxolo
Mandela, and 'Madiba's' grandchildren Mbuso Mandela, Andile Mandela, Zozuko
Dlamini and Phumla Mandela. Chinese vice-president Li Yuanchao, Brazilian
president Dilma Roussef, Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba and Indian
president Pranab Mukherjee also made speeches before a keynote address by South
Africa's president Jacob Zuma and a sermon by Bishop Ivan Abrahams.President Mukherjee is accompanied by UPA
Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Union Commerce
Minister Anand Sharma, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury and BSP leader Satish
Mishra, reflecting the high-esteem Mandela held across the entire political
spectrum in India.

Most of
us are fond of photos ~ would admire thyself on a photo and happily pose for
one… !! – most post their photos on
social network sites like Facebook, Instagram, Myspace and the like ~
and expect that friends and dear comment on that to their liking….. the photo looks quite ordinary at first sight
!!!! … A selfie is a type of self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a
hand-held digital camera or camera phone, and are usually taken in a slightly
tilted manner. Selfies are often associated with social networking. I had recently posted of the ‘sickly selfie’
of a woman taking a photo of self infront of Brooklyn bridge in the background
of someone attempting suicide.

David Cameron has
offered up an excuse for why he decided to take part in that photograph with
Barack Obama and Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. The prime minister told MPs : "When a
member of the Kinnock family asked me for a photograph, I thought it was only
polite to say yes." ~ and Obama is also being criticized for giving a
beaming smile and being in that photo frame….the one taking photos is no
ordinary person – a good looking one….and a Prime Minister – Ms
Thorning-Schmidt, the Social Democrat leader of Denmark, married to Stephen Kinnock
- the son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock – the one bad thing was of
course the occasion……. !!!

Barack Obama was
already in news – paid tribute to anti-apartheid icon, shook hands with Cuba's
Raul Castro on his way to the podium in historic gesture of reconciliation and
became infamous with this photo !!! The
Photographer who caught world leaders taking a 'selfie' says they were 'simply
acting like human beings'

For the thousands of
mourners inside Johannesburg's FNB Stadium it was meant to be a fitting tribute
to a 'giant of history'. But while some reflected on the remarkable life of
Nelson Mandela, some world leaders saw it as the perfect opportunity to grab a
quick 'selfie' with their peers - prompting a backlash from web users accusing
them of undermining the seriousness of the event. U.S. President Barack Obama,
Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt grinned
as they cosied up for a quick picture at yesterday's memorial service for the
former South African president, prompting an outpouring of criticism. As the
trio posed for the mobile phone snap, Obama's wife Michelle sat alongside her
husband looking somewhat stony faced. Her mood didn't improve as Mr Obama and
Ms Thorning-Schmidt talked through the order of service and shared a joke.

What do
President Obama and a bunch of teenagers have in common?... It turns out they
like to appear in selfies at memorial services. Denmark's Prime Minister Helle
Thorning Schmidt appeared to hold out her smartphone for a three-way selfie at
a service honoring Nelson Mandela today in Johannesburg. Obama, who sat to her
left, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who sat to her right, leaned in
close for the snap. The selfies at funeral trend was
popularized thanks to a Tumblr site that had since shut down; however, the
owner couldn't resist resurrecting it today for one more post.

Helle
Thorning-Schmidt is a Danish politician
who has been the Prime Minister of Denmark since 3 October 2011 and the Leader
of the Social Democrats since 12 April 2005. She is the first woman to hold
either post. Thorning-Schmidt served as a Member of the European Parliament for
Denmark from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in
2005. Here she is seen with German chancellor – Angela Merkel… back home -
Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under fire for missing Nelson Mandela's
memorial in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Although dozens of world leaders made the
trip, she stayed in Berlin.